North Jersey Record - NJ State, Local Officials Call on Feds to Mandate Lower Speeds for Oil Trains

News Article

By Scott Fallon

A coalition of state and local officials called on the federal government Wednesday to require speed reductions for trains hauling volatile crude oil through 11 towns in Bergen County as well as other densely populated communities.

Standing just a few hundred feet from where 15 to 30 trains pass through as they haul millions of gallons each week, the group of seven officials said the trains are a potential threat to all who live along the rail line. The oil the trains are carrying has a low flash point and there have been several fiery derailments in North America in the past year, including one in Quebec in which 47 people were killed and 30 buildings were destroyed.

"If something happens, we won't have time to evacuate, we won't have people to evacuate," said Ora Kornbluth, a councilwoman in Bergenfield where the trains pass through. "If it blows up, our houses are directly on that line."

Transport of crude oil by rail has increased 4,200 percent in the past six years due to the enormous reserve found in the remote Bakken region of North Dakota. Because there are few pipelines, most of the oil has to be transported by train.

The trains, each carrying upwards of three million gallons of crude, enter Bergen County in Northvale on the CSX River Line on their way to a Philadelphia refinery. Besides Bergenfield, they travel within feet of thousands of homes, businesses and schools in Norwood, Harrington Park, Closter, Haworth, Dumont, Bergenfield, Teaneck, Bogota, Ridgefield Park and Ridgefield.

The issue has become a growing concern in Bergen County. On Tuesday, candidates in the county executive race also called for stepped-up rail safety.

In February, major rail companies agreed to several safety measures, including a reduction in the maximum speed of oil trains to 40 mph when they are within 10 miles of a major city -- a practice that would cover all of the CSX River Line through Bergen County.

The group gathered in Teaneck said that's not enough. They called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to institute an immediate 25 mph limit on trains carrying oil in DOT-111 tanker cars, which the government considers substandard for hauling hazardous material and plans to phase out in two years

"For our purposes 40 mph for trains that are old and outdated is too fast," said Roy Cho, a Democratic lawyer from Hackensack who is running for the 5th Congressional District seat. "It's dangerous for our communities."

A CSX spokesman said slower speeds for oil trains would cause problems for its entire freight operation.

"Significantly lower speed limits for crude oil trains would severely limit our ability to provide reliable freight service to our customers and to support timely, efficient passenger and commuter service," said Rob Doolittle, spokesman for Florida-based CSX, which operates the largest rail network in the eastern U.S.

While the group acknowledged they have little say in how railroads are regulated -- a function almost exclusive to the U.S. Department of Transportation -- they said there are some things local and state officials can do.

Teaneck Councilmen Jason Castle and Alan Sohn are putting together an emergency response plan to have in place if an oil train ever derails in Teaneck. They hope to include the other 10 towns along the rail line in a regional plan.

"I have to think about this on a daily basis and worry about the safety of my own community," said Castle, whose daughter attends school at the Richard Rodda Center, which sits across the street from the rail line.

Senator Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, and Bogota Mayor Tito Jackson said there needs to be better coordination between state, county and local emergency management coordinators who are supposed to share information on oil train movements.

Also attending were Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, D-Englewood, Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle, D-Englewood,

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